New casino ups ante, looks to open by summer 2015

Helen Newmarch (right) of the Aberdeen Neighbourhood Association talks to Tanya Gabara of Gateway Casinos about the new casino proposed for the Aberdeen area.

(JENNIFER STAHN / iNFOnews.ca)

November 27, 2014 - 7:28 PM

KAMLOOPS - An aggressive timeline has become even more aggressive as Gateway Casinos looks to relocate Lake City Casino from downtown to Aberdeen in time for a July 2015 opening.

Gateway Casinos was originally looking at opening in October 2015 but with the recent approval of the necessary zoning requirements the company now hopes to push up that date by three months.

“We are hopeful that we can open earlier than projected initially,” Tanya Gabara of Gateway Casinos says. “However, this cannot be confirmed until we begin construction in earnest.”

Development Director Marvin Kwiatkowski says while there is a bit of roadwork that needs to be done before the casino can open the timeline is possible.

“It will probably be April before we could start road construction,” he notes. “It’s not a six month project, you can do something like that within two months.”

Before the casino can open several pieces of roadwork must be complete, including the installation of traffic signal lights at Copperhead Drive and the installation of a roundabout at the corner of Hugh Allan Drive and Versatile Drive. Traffic was one of the main concerns that came up during August open houses hosted by the company.

City staff originally suggested council turn down the application based on previous directives from council to keep that type of facility central. Following a large public meeting in August council agreed to the land use changes necessary for the casino to relocate. Since then a number of traffic studies have been done and staff has been working hard with the company to get the project moving forward.

The casino and entertainment facility will feature three restaurants and live entertainment, in addition to the gaming floor. Plans are underway for a public open house to be held in spring before construction begins.

To contact a reporter for this story, email Jennifer Stahn at jstahn@infonews.ca or call 250-819-3723. To contact an editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.

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